Musuko
by White Evergreen
Summary: A series of short, random stories about Uzumaki Naruto growing up with his father, Yondaime Hokage.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: The day I own Naruto is the day Jiraiya takes a vow of chastity.

A.N.: I openly and shamelessly adore the idea/all-but-fact that Yondaime is Naruto's father. This fanfic is about how their lives as a family might have been had Fate and the Kyuubi not stepped in.

I've given Yondaime-sama the name Arashi. While Kayaku is far more likely to turn out to be Yondaime's canon name, in my mind he's been Arashi for far too long to be anything else unless Kishimoto-sama himself says otherwise. Don't expect any semblance of a real plot in this, it's just going to be little drabbles of random cuteness, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. The only reason I've given it a T-rating is because Arashi's nii-san, Higen (somehow, I could never quite imagine Yondaime as an only child, so I gave him a big brother) and ninja in general don't have the cleanest mouths. ;;

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**Musuko**

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Chapter 1: Delivery Room Dilemma

Uzumaki Higen was at his wit's end. For the last fourteen hours, his sister-in-law, Uzumaki Rei had been in labor with her and his brother's first child. For the first thirteen of them, Arashi had played the dutiful husband, doting on his wife's every need, fetching whatever was necessary to make her as comfortable as possible, and taking his beatings like a good boy whenever she felt like dishing them out (Higen found it amusing to watch the great and powerful Fourth Hokage get his ass handed to him by his _very_ pregnant wife and gleefully filed the scene away in his mental blackmail folder).

All of that had changed almost an hour ago when the contractions got more powerful, more painful, and closer together. It was time.

Tsunade, the doctor in charge, ordered Rei be brought into the delivery room, kicking Arashi out of it when he tried to follow. Which brought them to the current situation: Uzumaki Arashi a.k.a. the Fourth Hokage, pacing back and forth like a mad man in front of the delivery room, muttering to (and cursing at) himself, and just generally getting on people's nerves, namely Higen's. It's not that he minded his usually calm and collected younger brother acting like a nervous wreck, but it really did a number on his patience after fourteen hours. Thus the reason for Higen's rather strong desire to throttle the man right about now.

The last member of their little party wasn't helping either. When Rei had first gone into labor, Sarutobi had taken up the duties of Hokage for the day so Arashi could be with his wife. Now, however, he was sitting patiently on the bench besides Higen, watching as his successor paced a hole into the floor. He knew he should say something to the younger man, even if only for the elder Uzumaki's sanity, but he didn't. He could have pointed out that thanks to Tsunade, the medical personal of Konohagakure were amongst the best in the world and therefore mother and child couldn't be in safer hands, but he didn't. He also could have reminded Arashi that giving birth was a perfectly natural (if painful) part of being a woman and that his wife was going to be fine. Rei was going through the same things that millions of other women in the world had since the birth of the human race and that Rei was stronger than most. If they could give birth, so could she.

But he didn't. Nope, to the Third Hokage, the delivery room wait/panic was a rite of passage for new fathers and high and mighty Yondaime or not, Arashi would just have to just sweat it out like the rest of them. Besides, the moment the kid's out of there, Arashi was going to be grinning like an idiot anyway, so hey, might as well enjoy the spectacle while it lasts.

For his part, Arashi tried to be patient. He knew giving birth was supposed to be painful, that it took time and Tsunade was doing her best, but damn it he couldn't help it. Tradition in the Fire Country dictated that childbirth was the sole domain of women, so by and large men were kept in the dark about it, and that included keeping them out of the delivery room was well, Konoha being no exception. Quite frankly, Arashi didn't give a damn about tradition, not if it came between him, his wife, and their child, but Tsunade did give a damn apparently, or else she wouldn't have kicked him out. He was willing to argue the matter further (to the point of fists, actually), but then Rei had let out another pearl of pain and Tsunade rushed back in but not before she'd warned her patient's husband that if he ever tried to barge into one of her operations like he did half an hour ago, she'd render him incapable of having children ever again.

So essentially cut off from Rei and the baby, all Arashi could do was wait and worry. It didn't help that every single little issue and insecurity he'd grappled with in the past nine months was coming back to haunt him with a vengeance.

From 'What's taking so long? Is the baby alright?' to 'Do I even have what it takes to be a father? Am I ready for this?' the thoughts swirled and raced through his mind. All the questions he's asked himself when it had hit him that he was going to be a father came screaming back to him, all pressing down on him, all demanding answers that . Thoughts surfaced and sank before he could pin them down with words and it was making his head hurt.

'I've been a shinobi for what, almost twenty years now? You'd think I'd be able to keep my cool better than this. Damn it, man, get it together, focus!' Arashi berated himself. 'But damn, what was I thinking, bringing a child into this world when there's still the threat of war?' He felt like banging his head against the wall. Fortunately, before he did, the sound of high-pitched crying broke the silence. Arashi whipped around.

Tsunade, hair mussed and smock bloody was peaking out from behind the door. She had her mouth open as if to tell him something, but he didn't wait to find out. He was behind her before she had time for a single word.

Rei lay propped up on a bed in the middle of the room. Her rich mahogany brown hair was messily tied back but a few strands hung down to frame her face. Exhaustion was written clearly on her every feature, from the heavily lidded hazel eyes to the beads of sweat still clinging to her forehead. But as she looked up at him, a brilliant smile on her face, it occurred to him that he'd never seen her look so happy. Nor so beautiful, not even on their wedding day.

Another wailing cry shifted his attention from his wife to the blue-wrapped bundle in her arms.

Arashi's breath caught in his throat. Not so with his wife. If anything, her smile got even bigger as she said, "Congratulations, Yodaime-sama, you have a son."

Not quite remembering when he moved from the doorway to beside the bed, Arashi stared in absolute awe at the tiny face peeking out from the folds of the soft blue cloth.

"You want to hold him?" Rei asked quietly, knowing full well the answer but inquiring anyway. Arashi nodded dumbly, gently, tenderly, carefully taking his baby into his arms.

Powerful emotions surged through Arashi's heart as he beheld his son for the first time. Awe, pride, protectiveness, wonder, joy, and a kind of fierce tenderness all flooded his being, but none more strongly than sheer love.

He was so caught up in it all he didn't even notice his smile was threatening to split his face in two.

Tsunade, who had been waiting where Arashi left her by the door, chose this moment to gently shoo Arashi out of the room so she could perform a post birth check-up on Rei.

Out in the hall, Sarutobi and Higen continued to wait, the former thinking back all those years ago when his own child was born and the later trying to contain his excitement and his happiness for his brother, failing miserably on both counts.

The door opened again and out came Arashi, a tiny blue bundle nestled in his arms.

Higen eyed the bundle. Sarutobi eyed the grin on Arashi's face. He knew it, like an idiot.

"That him?" Higen asked, nodding towards his nephew.

"Yup." Lifting his son a little higher, Arashi peeled the blanket back just enough so they could all see the tiny face better.

Deep, sparkling blue eyes peered up at them curiously, as if wondering who all the big people were.

Higen cracked a grin. "Hey there, little guy," he said, peering over his brother's shoulder at his nephew. "Glad to finally meet'cha."

He reached over and gently ruffled the blond peach fuzz poking out from the blanket. The baby made a small irritated noise, wriggling a bit to evade the offending fingers. All three men laughed.

Higen smirked. "Noogies are family tradition, kiddo, so better get used to it."

"That they are," Arashi agreed, remembering all the times Higen had ambushed him just to make his scalp burn when they were younger. His reminiscing eventually slipped into him just standing there and taking in his baby, his son. Bright blue eyes, soft blond hair, tiny button of a nose, round, chubby face. Arashi reached into the blanket and pulled out one of the impossibly little hands, examining the even littler fingers complete with miniscule nails. The entire hand was just barely able to make a fist around Arashi's index finger. "He's so small," he marveled.

"Yeah," his brother agreed. Seemingly pondering something, he added, "Kinda makes you realize just why the old word for baby means little red thing."

Had his hands not been holding the baby, Arashi would have elbowed his brother in the ribs. He settled for a light glare instead. "Gee, thanks, Higen."

"What? He knows I didn't mean it personally, right Shorty?"

"I think I'll give him my full permission to be taller than you, just to spite you.

"You do realize that means he'd be taller than you, right?"

Sarutobi chuckled at the highly disgruntled look on Arashi's face.

"Half an inch, Aniki," he growled, "half an inch!" While he could not be labeled 'short' by any means sans the years before he became a Genin, between Jiraiya, Higen, and Mitsurugi, his father, Arashi had always been rather sore about his height.

"Boys," Sarutobi chided lightly, far too used to the brotherly banter to take it seriously. They stood there for a moment, studying this tiny boy in Arashi's arms. Eventually, Higen spoke again. "So, you gonna name him or what?" he asked.

"Naruto," Arashi said proudly. "Uzumaki Naruto."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, the world would know Yondaime's name already.

Musuko

Chapter 2 – First Meeting

Baby looks at Sennin.

Sennin looks at Baby.

Baby blinks.

Sennin blinks.

Baby blinks again, starts bawling at the top of his lungs, and tries to wriggle his way out of Sennin's grasp and back to Daddy who manages to cease laughing just long enough to ask his former sensei, "Now, what was that about being the man who made babies stop crying?"

A.N.: Um, yeah… I've always imagined Naruto and Jiraiya's first meeting (if Arashi had lived, anyway) and they just kinda look at each other, Naruto decides he doesn't like him, starts crying and Arashi laughing at the two of them.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: The day I own Naruto is the day Orochimaru checks himself in for psycho therapy.

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Musuko

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Chapter 3

Three year-olds, Arashi thought wearily, should really come with a warning label.

Glancing around at what was recognizable as his son's room only by the well trained eye (didn't Rei just clean in here?), he supposed he should be glad Naruto was showing such early signs of many prized ninja qualities; cleverness, stamina, resourcefulness, dedication, creativity, among other things. He just dearly wished said toddler would use his talent for something other than making as big of a mess as possible as often as possible.

If the current state of his room was any indication, his wish was falling on deft ears.

'Oh, quit complaining!' a little voice in the back of his head told him. 'You love the little hellion and you know it, Blondie!'

The accusation couldn't be truer. _Very_ high maintenance though he was, Arashi wouldn't have Naruto any other way. His sunny smile and clear blue eyes, his frantic giggles when tickled in the right places. His warm, wet kisses and small hands, his messy hair and soft cheeks, just perfect for raspberries. His pure, selfless love.

His boundless energy.

Arashi allowed himself a grin at that last one. He often chased Naruto all over the house, the toddler always just managing to evade capture until Arashi had to resort to ninjutsu to pin the little blob down. Arashi didn't mind, though. It puzzled him how a little boy that barely came up to his knee could have so much energy, but he greatly enjoyed the time to play with his son. And afterward, when he was tired, Naruto would curl up in his favorite napping spot, which happened to be wherever his father's lap was (though on one memorial occasion, it was the top of the refrigerator), and just lie there, watching his father do whatever until he fell asleep.

Speaking of sleeping…

A few golden spikes jutted out proudly from underneath the blankets on the bed. Wading carefully through the sea of clothes, plushies, toys, stuffed animals, picture books, and gods knew what else, Arashi pulled back the covers to reveal a small boy with bright blond hair as unruly as his room, clutching a stuffed frog, sleeping like the dead. Arashi smiled bemusedly down at his son. He'd come to tuck Naruto in and kiss him good night, but the little rugrat had beaten him to it. Him, Konoha's Yellow Flash.

"Only you, Naruto," he chuckled softly, leaning down and gracing his son's temple with a tender kiss.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: I own Naruto. Riiight… and Kyuubi secretly likes to be called "Fluffy."

A.N. – This drabble is a little darker than the others. It came to me when my dad told me about how one of my little sisters had had a nightmare some time ago and it reminded me of all the times I'd run into Mom's room when I was little because I'D had a bad dream. And the most frightening ones were ALWAYS the ones where something bad had happened to my mother or I couldn't find her or something. And after I had such a dream, I ALWAYS had to go into my mother's room and make sure she was still there, no matter what ungodly hour in the morning it was. Hence my inspiration for this chapter.

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**Musuko**

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Chapter 4: Nightmares

Naruto woke up crying. He didn't like crying. His eyes got all puffy and red and it gave him the hiccups and his nose got all runny and his head hurt and it just wasn't fun. Now though, he couldn't help it. He'd had a bad cream. Mommy and Daddy called them nightmares. And they were right, nightmares were scary. And he'd just had one.

He had been in a big crowd but he was lost and everyone he'd asked for help had turned away from him, walking away before he could even get close. He'd called out to them, pleaded, begged for help, cried for his parents.

No one came. No one but the Eyes.

Naruto cried even harder as he remembered them. Big, glowing red cat eyes, staring down at him, making fun of him, poking at him with sharp claws. It told him his parents were gone, that they'd left him behind, that they didn't want him anymore so they left and they were never coming back. He'd called the Eyes a liar, yelled at them to go away, but the Eyes had laughed at him, grinning with massive fangs longer than he was tall. He'd tried to run away, but the Eyes were always behind him, chasing him. He'd been so scared….

Out in the hall, Arashi yawned, stumbling his way back to bed. Nothing hit the spot for late-night hunger pangs like cold pizza. Well, nothing except ramen, but ramen took time to make and Arashi was too sleepy to wait the required three minutes. Come to think of it, he was too sleepy to think either, so he stopped. His bed and his wife's toasty side were calling….

Then he heard whimpering coming from his son's room and all thought of sleep was suddenly the last thing on his mind.

"Naruto?" he called quietly, opening the door. A small, hard, and blond something vaulted from atop the bed and attached itself to his legs before he could take a step into the room. Bending over and unlocking the boy's death grip on his leg just long enough to transfer it to his neck, Arashi scooped him up and carried him back over to the bed. "Hey, buddy," he said soothingly, running a hand through soft golden spikes, "What's going on, huh?"

Naruto said nothing, burrowing deeper into his father's warmth, crying even harder all the while.

"Ruto?" Arashi tried again, but again with no response, save for the tightening of the boy's arms.

Arashi was distinctly worried now. Naruto had had bad dreams before, everyone did, but any distress caused by them were usually soothed away with a hug from his parents and forgotten with a kiss, though sometimes with a little hot chocolate. But now as Arashi tried every trick he knew to calm his son, hugs, kisses, back scratching, rocking, whispering his concerns, and nothing worked, it dawned on him with no small trace of deep unease that Naruto was afraid, truly and deeply afraid. Naruto was never afraid. Not Naruto, who frequently climbed up the many trees in the village just because he thought it magic how everybody shrank when he did, heedless of the many times his parents and various caretakers told him not to. Not Naruto, who loved wandering around the house in the middle of the night just to tell the Boogie Man to stop picking on all his friends. Not Naruto, his precious, courageous little boy.

Something was very, very wrong. This couldn't have been just another nightmare.

Time to call the specialist. Arashi picked up his son again and carried him into this and Rei's room.

Uzumaki Rei was sound asleep when her husband and son entered. She was awake in an instant however when her ninja senses, undimmed by motherhood, picked up the pure fear that rolled off her son in waves. "What happened?" she asked, throwing off the covers so Arashi could lie down next to her.

"Nightmare, I think," Arashi told her. "He was crying when I came in, but I can't get anything out of him."

Taking her son as much into her arms as she could, Rei tried her best to sooth him. Placing a kiss on his shoulder, she cooed, "What is it, sweety? What's wrong? It alright, you're safe now, Mommy and Daddy are both here. We're not going to let anything happen to you, okay? Naruto, please tell me…. Sweety?"

Not getting any noticeable response, Rei glanced worriedly at her husband. Arashi shrugged his eyebrows, clearly just as stumped as she was. The horrible feeling of helplessness began to set in heavily on both parents. She supposed they'd just have to wait it out till Naruto told them what was wrong, though every last piece of her that was a mother hated the idea. Watching your child in pain was bad enough, being unable to do anything about it was near unbearable but what else could they do? Rei bit her lip again.

Finally, after near half an hour, Naruto had fallen silent and Arashi was almost sure he was asleep, "Mommy…? D-daddy…?"

"Yeah, champ?" "What is it, sweety?"

Naruto opened and closed his mouth several times before he said, so softly Rei almost didn't hear him, "Do you… love me?"

Any relief from their son finally starting to open up was swiftly replaced by confusion.

"Of course, sweety!" Rei said, engulfing him with a fury of kisses and caresses, the kind only a loving parent could give. Naruto broke out into fresh tears, turning and latching onto his mother, clutching her soft mahogany locks in him hands.

Arashi let him go, feeling like he just got kicked in the gut. "Naruto," he said, "we've told you everyday how much we love you. Do you really feel we don't love you?"

Since day one, Arashi and Rei had done everything in their power to ensure their son was raised with up most love and care. That Naruto might not feel loved never occurred to Arashi, but the very idea of it made his blood run cold.

Naruto shook his head. "The Eyes t-told me you didn't love me anymore. They said you weren't coming back…"

Slowly, painfully, Naruto recounted his dream to his parents….

It was around four in the morning when Naruto finally nodded off to sleep, surrounded by his parents' arms and love, exhausted from crying for so long. For Arashi and Rei, however, such peace and rest did not come so easily. They were concerned to say the least, and baffled as to where such a dream would mean or where it came from. They told him everyday they loved him, Naruto had tons of friends, so that wasn't a problem, and even if something ever did happen to them, there were people who would take care of Naruto, Higen for one. So why would Naruto dream everyone hated him, his parents included, and that an animal of some kind was tormenting him? That's the other thing. Naruto loved animals, so much so that sometimes Arashi wondered if perhaps his son had been accidentally switched with an Inuzuka.

Arashi hadn't had to wrestle with so many implication and what-ifs and hypotheticals since those few nerve-racking hours before Naruto was born. He hadn't had this big a headache since then either, come to think of it….

Rei, ever the considerate and loving wife, eyed the weariness and lingering hurt etched on her husband's face. Truth be told, she was just as worried by this thing as he was, but unlike her, he didn't have to day off tomorrow (later that day, really), and thus needed to sleep which wouldn't happen with the cogs in his head continued to churn like they were. "Honey," she said softly, careful not to wake Naruto, "You need to get to sleep, love."

"How can I?" he mumbled, burying his face in his hands. "My son just told me-"

"That he's insecure sometimes, just like every other child in the world, and just needed reassurance."

Arashi turned to stare at her. "How can you brush this off so easily? Our son was convinced, by his own dream, that we didn't want him anymore. His own dream! What does that tell us? What does say about us as parents?"

"It was probably some outside influence. Nothing of this sort has ever happened before and three year-olds can't hide their emotions all that well so it has to have been something recent. And that aside, what else can we do besides continue to love him like we have? 'Rashi, I'm just as worried about all this as you, but it was one dream, we can't go to pieces about it. Worrying our heads off now won't solve anything. And I'm telling you to get some sleep is because I wouldn't be doing my duty as your subordinate nor as your wife if I let you be cranky and miserable and make bad decisions tomorrow in the Tower, Hokage-sama, just because you didn't get your sleep." She flicked him on the nose.

Arashi had to resist a sigh. Only Rei could chastise him and make him feel like a silly little kid, yet comfort him, and remind him of his duties and her love all in one go. "What would I do with out you, again?"

"I don't want to know," she replied bluntly, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "Now sleep, you."

Smiling bemusedly, Arashi let his head fall back onto his pillows, his weariness finally overcoming him. Rei was right. No sense worrying about it now. They knew they loved their son and as long as he knew it, that was enough.

A.N. – The ending seems a little weak to me, but after two days and not being able to come up with anything better, I give up. I was going more for irony in this, I don't know if it came across too well. Even though Naruto's destiny as a jinchuuriki was somehow avoided in this universe, bits of it still echo and will continue to forever more. And that little bit of his destiny are his tears brought on by the dream of Kyuubi, because as Kakashi said, that's basically Naruto's childhood, one big painful wound. The other bit of irony is Rei's thought that Higen would care for Naruto should anything happen to her and Arashi. It hasn't really occurred to her that something could happen to all three of them. You may be asking why I didn't mention Naruto being taken care of by the villagers and it's not because of what you may think. They would (in this universe anyway) but in Japan, the handling of orphans is different than in America. Here, to be adopted is not too big a deal. Don't get me wrong, it is, but at least here it's okay to be open about it. In Japan, adoption only really happens if it can be kept quite and in the family. And if you're adopted, you never talk about it. At least, that's what my Japanese teacher told me. If anybody's ever seen that one episode of Digimon when Izzy finds out he was adopted by his uncle, you'll know what I mean. As for Arashi, let's just say that Naruto feeling loved is VERY important to him. I won't say too much here because I may or may not explain why in a later drabble, I'm not sure yet. That depends on you guys. (hint, hint, nudge, nudge)


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: I own Naruto. Uh huh, sure. And Naruto's favorite food is really carrots because they go with his orange jump suit.

A.N. – Yeah, I know I'm gonna get a lot of people yelling at me because I didn't post anything on Father's Day, but I do have an excuse so hear me out. I did have something prepared for that most special day, but then certain highly negative events that happened between me and my own father caused me to completely rewrite what I had had before. When I got done with the revised version, I scrapped it because 1) I didn't want something that negative to be included in Musuko because it just doesn't fit the theme of happiness and family that I have set for this fic, and 2) because it was way too close to home and sorry guys, but I don't want something THAT personal up on the internet where anyone and their grandmothers can see it. I may have my issues, serious ones, with my father, but I do love him and I know he loves me to the best of his ability, so...

Anyway, once I'd scrapped the revised version, I couldn't find the original ( I hadn't typed it up), and I wouldn't rewrite it to the point where I liked it enough to post it. So if and when I do find the original, you'll be the first to know, kay? In the meantime, I found this chapter's humble beginnings when I was searching around for the other one. I'd gotten the inspiration for it some weeks ago, but hit writer's block after the first paragraph (pathetic, isn't it?). But after I rediscovered it, the inspiration came right back, so here you go. Enjoy. And sorry about the wait. (dodges flying tomatoes)

Edit: Yeah, so I just realized that somehow the last two sentences got cut off. I went back and fixed it though, so don't worry. Sorry about that.

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**Musuko**

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Chapter 5 – The Ultimate Weapon

Arashi never really believed in the ultimate weapon. It just wasn't possible. For every yin, there's a yang, for every day, there's a night. Always. Everything has an opposite and therefore, a weakness, and as long as there was a weakness, it could be defeated, therefore can't be the ultimate weapon, no matter how powerful.

How very wrong he was…

The ultimate weapon was staring him in the face. And it had big cerulean eyes.

And because Naruto had inherited 95 percent of his physical features from his father, Arashi had no one to blame but himself.

He'd just had to use the puppy dog look on Rei two weeks ago to get a cookie from her before dinner, didn't he? Not only did he not get the cookie (after being married for five years, Rei had grown a considerable resistance to her husband's favorite tactic), but Naruto had also learned the technique and had been using it to his advantage ever since. Arashi supposed he should be proud his son had picked up on the Weepy-Puppy-Dog-Eyes-of-Doom no jutsu so quickly, but when the full force of the technique was being used against him (like right now), Arashi wanted to bash his head against the nearest brick wall. It didn't help that old man Ichiraku was silently laughing at him from behind the counter. "Well, Yondaime-sama?" he asked, the amusement in his voice clear as day.

Naruto turned up the jutsu's magnitude to maximum. "Please, Daddy?" he begged, his bottom lip protruding in the most adorable pout, blue eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Dammit, Rei was going to kill him for this. Possibly (probably) because she'd had so much practice from Arashi, Rei was immune to the technique and thus would not accept its awesome power as an excuse to further indulge their already getting to be spoiled son.

In the here and now, however, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. So, shoulders bowed to the inevitable, Arashi turned to the old chef and said, "Another round of ramen, please."


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